You-Know-Who – 70, Kentucky – 62. Well, it was still worth the drive back down to Duluth for the outstanding atmosphere and the several runs Kentucky made to get back into the game and even pull a few points ahead at times. But, ultimately, this game felt like a foregone conclusion…a coronation, if you will…from the time the two combatants were determined in yesterday’s semifinal games. After trailing by six at halftime, Kentucky came out red hot in the second half and jumped out to a six-point lead of their own by the first TV timeout. During that timeout, Pat Summitt jawed at the referees for the duration while her assistants addressed the team. What happened next will be as familiar and unsurprising to longtime women’s basketball fans as day following night: Three consecutive Kentucky possessions…three consecutive ticky-tack foul calls. Yeah…we’ve all seen that movie before. On top of that, Kentucky’s Victoria Dunlap saw her shooting go cold after a red hot first half (mostly as a result of being relentlessly double-teamed). With no other Kentucky player stepping forward to take the offensive burden off Dunlap, You-Know-Who went on one of their patented late-game runs en route to their fourteenth SEC Tournament championship.

Still, this was a very entertaining tournament. The league came back to Duluth and put on another first-class show. Now the SEC Tournament is off to Nashville for the next two seasons before returning to Duluth in 2013 and 2014. See you there!

As for this blog, we’ll have the national polls and whatever news pops up in the Lady Bulldog Nation next week…but the next big event for our ladies is the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, airing one week from tomorrow (Monday, March 15). That’s when we’ll find out what kind of a seed a 23-8 record will get you and where/when the Lady Dawgs will be opening NCAA Tournament play. Hang on tight, Fastbreakers…nothing’s close to over yet this season.

Click here for the official SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament home page.

Here are some photos from the SEC Tournament championship game: